Parker
Parker's early life in the foster system was wrought with abuse, neglect, and several early traumas that have left Parker emotionally scarred to the point where her emotional responses are skewed. History Early Life Parker had a hard life, being put into the foster system at a young age and being cycled constantly, rarely having time to interact with other children her age. When she was ten or nine, Parker began her life as a thief, most likely because she didn't receive adequate living standards at wherever she had been living at that point, and attempted to steal in order to get what she wanted or needed. At some point Parker taught her younger brother, Nick, how to ride a bike. However, shortly afterward he was in a car crash on his bicycle and died, causing Parker immense guilt and grief that she kept within herself. Before she was 12 she was a getaway driver. Some time after that she met a boy called Kelly in foster care, and he taught her how to boost cars. They worked together as a team until they boosted a bait car. He escaped the police, leaving Parker to serve 6 months in juvie. In 1998, she was found pickpocketing on the street after attempting to take what he had. Archie Leach saw her potential and decided to train her as his apprentice thief, ultimately allowing her to become very skilled in thievery. 2008 When Parker was a fully grown adult, she was recruited by Victor Dubenich to steal goods which he claimed to be stolen from him, along with Nathan Ford, Alec Hardison, and Eliot Spencer. However things turned around when they discovered that he was taking them for himself, and the goods had never belonged to him. Nate then asked Sophie Devereaux to come and help them in a con where they would turn on their former client. Later after Nate had become an alcoholic, Sophie set up a con in order for him to get revenge on I.Y.S. Insurance, and more specifically Ian Blackpoole. However the plan failed when James Sterling got involved, which resulted in Parker's capture. Sophie then retrieved Parker, and Hardison destroyed the Headquarters. The team then decided to lie low for six months. However, not even that much time later Parker met up with the rest of the group in an attempt to steal two David statues from the previous con. The plan worked out well, they pretended to take the Two Davids allowing that exhibit to be shut down when in reality they took everything else in that gallery. Then, they returned everything they'd taken after Nate made Sterling agree to get rid of Blackpoole and the policy that they wouldn't cover insurance under any conditions. The leverage team then split up once more, in attempt to lie low. 2009 Six months later, the team all met up when Sophie invited them all to see her performance of The Sound of Music, and later went to the bar beneath Nate's apartment. There, Parker admitted that she was not particularly enjoying her new life as an honest person, and had stolen the Hope Diamond, but had put it back. Shortly afterward, Nate was almost murdered, and the crew agreed to help a client. After successfully jailing a corrupt banker, Parker and the others set up Leverage headquarters in Nate's new apartment, and opened up for business. Shortly afterward, Sophie takes a leave of absence from the team, leaving Tara Cole to take over for her as the grifter of the group. Parker and the others don't initially trust Tara, because she originally lied to them about her identify. However as time moves along they welcome her into the group, and Tara even begins coaching Parker on her grifting like Sophie did. Everything comes to a close, though, when Nate recruits the team to help him take down corrupted Mayor, Brad Culpepper III. The team soon discovers that it is not Culpepper who is in charge of this crime, but Tony Kadjic, who's working with the mayor and using the fact that he reports intelligence to the FBI as cover. The scam with Kadjic goes bad, and not even when Sophie intervenes does it help. The team defeats Kadjic, but is cornered by the FBI and Sterling, Nate then takes the fall for his group, saying he'll go to jail if his group is set free, and declares himself a thief. 2010 After Nate's arrest, Parker and the rest of the group teamed up in order to try and come up with a plan in order to bust him out, which they did. After Sophie failed to get Nate enthusiastic about the plan, Nate found the group a client within the prison walls. As it turned out the prisons' warden was corrupt, and the team came up with a plan to take him down and break Nate out at the same time. After their plan succeeded, the team set up Leverage again. However their escape was not without harm, in the process of it they'd attracted the attention of a woman who wanted said she wanted the Leverage team to take down an extremely corrupt man, Damien Moreau, and gave them a deadline. She said if they didn't do it, she'd send Nate back to jail. During the quest Parker took some extra time off to help her mentor, Archie Leach, break into one of the world's most secure security systems. She did this behind the backs of the rest of the team, but after she disappeared they followed her into the system, and helped to get her out. After, she talked with her mentor who said he regretted not introducing Parker into his family, and Parker said that it was okay, leaving them both content with their positions. The week before Nate's deadline was up, Damien Moreau came into Boston. The crew set up on a plan to take him down, which involved destroying a bomb he was planning on selling for a huge sum of money. Afterwards, the team chased him down to San Lorenzo, and made the politician he had "bought" loose the race, and even leading to convincing that man to have him arrested, making Moreau no longer a threat. Personality Parker seems to be constantly testing her skills, as she can instinctively case any building she sees. She also seems to have the ability to appear and disappear from locked rooms at will. As a thief, Parker uses little equipment other than a self-modified harness, (This harness has resulted in excellent upper body strength), and a taser. She has a soft spot for children and recognizes that her early life has changed her and doesn't want other children to be like her, but still can go out of her way to save children who she feels need her help. Parker's weakness is her social skills. Socially inept to a point, she either under- or over-compensates her emotional responses. But she has been working on this with Sophie Devereaux. Since trust doesn't come easily to her she has varied relationships with the team. While she trusts Eliot, Nate and Sophie, she is closest to Hardison, who has a crush on her. When the team rejoined in Boston, she alluded to Hardison (who told her he looked for her) her awareness of this, telling him not to force things and to give her time. She has stated that she's most afraid of letting down the people she cares about. Parker is the team's wild card, since no one knows what she'll do. Just don't cross her, because their are times Parker has proven to have a ruthless, sadistic streak or to be slightly be pyschopathetic, if not clincally so. Ex. she grined as she watched Elliot beat up Sterling, recalls with relish about a classmate's report card and how others had thought it safe, or when she smiled while choking Tara and about to push her off the building. Parker's only motivation appears to be money. She steals, not for property, or assets, but for cash. She has a rather unconventional relationship with cash, and has the ability to tell the difference between counterfeit and legitimate money by scrutinizing, touching, and even smelling it. It goes as far as her Christmas wish seems to have been a large wad of non-sequentially numberd cash, which she received from Nate and Sophie. However, Eliot is teaching her to have passion for more things in life since Parker saw how much Eliot liked cooking. Skills *Lock picking *Security Circumvention *Intrusion specialist *Pickpocket *Excellent upper body strength *Some hand-to-hand combat *Possible photographic memory and ability to sketch those images *Speaks fluent Spanish *Tazer usage *High Speed Driving *Car thief *Wheelman/Getaway Driver Weaknesses *Social skills (working on that with Sophie) *Emotional responses skewed *Initially considered a psychopath, but that perspective has changed over time. *Getting close to someone *Horses Accomplishments *Performed a heist of the French National Bank (which she described as "taking candy from a baby") *Stole "the Caravaggio", in Paris, in 2003 (Out of the three Caravaggio paintings stored in the Louvre, the likeliest one for her to have stolen is The Fortune Teller). *Stole the Polar Star Diamond, along with the Gem of Gibraltar, and performed something called the Damiani Raid. *Stole the Roslind Diamond in Perth. *Between Season 1 and Season 2, she stole the Hope Diamond, and put it back, because she was bored. *Successfully performed a heist in the Louvre. *Successfully stole the "Lion of Gilgamesh" from Dubai in 2005 Relationships Alec Hardison Parker often works closest with Hardison, as their two skill sets complement one another. As a result, Hardison has developed a crush on Parker. Parker is either ignorant of or oblivious to this. (In "The Wedding Job", she uses a presumed romantic encounter with Hardison's cover as a fake story. In "The First David Job", she pretends to make out with Hardison to elude physical security.) As Parker and Hardison enter season 2, it is clear that Parker is aware of Hardison's interest, but she waves him off. However, her body language towards him suggests she feels that he is safe, and scenes show her in very close proximity to him. She might not realize she is teasing him, but she is not afraid to put him in a triangle choke hold. In Season 3 Parker is beginning to feel mutual feelings and jealousy as Hardison spends more time with a client. Sophie tells her to tell Hardison how she feels. After a feeble attempt, in which Parker backed out nervously by telling Hardison that she has some feelings on 'pretzels', Hardison explains that 'pretzels' are available whenever she wants. In "The Big Bang Job", Parker tells Hardison she is in the mood for Pretzels, referencing their conversation at the end of "The Double Blind Job". In Season 5 Parker begins by telling the team that she has started dating Hardison, and clips from they're tour of the world are shown, all of which included jumping off of tall building using a cord, Parker yelling in delight and Hardison yelling in fear. Sophie Devereaux Sophie is a mentor to Parker in her social skills. In "The Juror #6 Job", Sophie coaches Parker in persuading the jury. If Nate were considered the father of the crew, then Sophie would definitely be the mother. While Nate is more like a strict father towards Parker, Sophie is like a caring mother towards her. Sophie guides her and educates her the way an actual mother does. Nathan Ford Of all the Leverage Team members, Parker trusts Nathan the most. Even when Nathan is clearly compromised by alcohol. She does respect Nathan, and fears his reactions, sometimes, as a father figure. One time in particular was "The Boost Job" where she broke her cover on the con, and feared Nate's reaction when he found out. Other than that, Parker is also very afraid of disappointing Nate the way a young child would fear to disappoint her strict father. Eliot Spencer [they kissed[ To Parker, Eliot is more like a big brother, as he is very protective of not only her but the whole Leverage team. He insults her a lot; but much of it sounds not unlike a brother would to his annoying little sister. While he is turned off by her personality, that does not affect his trust in her competence as a thief. Sometime before Season 2 he taught her some Mixed-Martial-Arts techniques which allows her to be more physical on the con. They work very well together when paired up. Parker and Eliot have come to realize they have darker pasts compared to the rest of the team, and they will do things the others won't. Other Characters Archie Leach Master Thief himself, her psuedo father, and her mentor. Twelve years before "The Inside Job" she was a pickpocket in New York City; one of her targets happened to be Leach. Archie recognized her talent, took Parker under his wing and trained her to be a master thief. However, he had a family who all thought he was an accountant, so he could not give her a home like a real daughter. He tells Nate she would not have 'fit in'. To this day though, he calls her "kiddo" and she calls him "sir". This relationship seemed to interfere with her relationship with Nathan and the rest of the team, but in the end she aligned herself with the team over her mentor. At first, Archie does not approve of how Parker has changed under Nate's leadership, but in the end, he congratulates her on making her own "family". Trivia *The series never states whether Parker is the character's first name, her last name or an adopted name. *According to Sterling's people, Parker is wanted in nine countries, including Brazil and Yemen. *Apparently, while she is a master thief, she considers the act of illegal downloading as morally wrong. * She does not like, and in fact, is scared of horses ever since she saw a man in a horse suit kill another man in a clown costume. *Like Eliot, who had claustrophobia, she had a fear of the dark as a child. To rid herself of it, she had herself buried alive. *She does not like, or trust, psychics. *While living in Boston, in addition to having six fake addresses, Parker finds residence in an empty warehouse/storage unit. It is a spartan home, consisting of only a bed with her stuffed bunny upon it, her wardrobe- including all of Parker's Rigs, as well as exercise equipment, a planning board, cereal, and bowls. *She appears to only eat cereal on a regular basis. Her residence is stockpiled with only cereal for food. Her favorite brand appears to be "Rocket Os". *In her spare time, Parker learns the security and schematics of banks. She knows the exact details of the security of every bank in Boston. *Her favorite color is green. *She has an obsession with chocolate. When she went to a Chocolate Festival, Hardison claims it was like giving crack to an addict. *She claims that her strength is due to spending long amounts of time hanging from buildings by her finger tips. *She still believes in Santa Claus. *Parker loves chocolate. She loves it A LOT. Her visit to a chocolate festival proves to she has a very large sweet tooth. As a result, she also tends to get hyper. Links *http://www.tnt.tv/series/leverage/characters/?contentId=41358 References }} Parker